Polishing spindle

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to an improved polishing spindle for use with any rotary power equipment. The spindle has a slot adapted to grip the end of a strip of polishing media so that an indefinite length can be wrapped around the spindle and securely held in position.

Umted States Patent 1 1 1111 3,774,354 Taylor Nov. 27, 1973 POLISHING SPINDLE 2,516,870 8/1950 Harrison 51 334 49 4 [76] Inventor: Donald M. Taylor, 2400 Mardel 3 323 Banning et al 51/334 Court, Hamilton Ohm 45014 3,380,202, 4/1968 Hartinger 51/364 [22] Filed: Jan. 20, 1972 Primary ExaminerOthell M. Simpson [2H Appl' 219,279 Attorney-Robert E. Luetje 52 us. (:1 51/358, 51/334, 51/364 I 7 ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl 324d 17/00 p This invention relates to an improved polishing spindle [58] Field of Search 51/358, 334, 364; for use with any rotary power equipment. The spindle 279/2 has a slot adapted to grip the end of a strip of polishing media so that an indefinite length can be wrapped [56] References Cited 1 around the spindle and securely held in position.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 2,416,220 2/1947 Reynolds 279/2 Patented Nov. 27, 1973 y v v POLISHING SPINDLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Sanding cylinders, spindles or drums are useful for sanding, deburring and polishing a variety of materials such as wood and metal in particular. These devices are ordinarily cylindrical in shape and driven by a power tool such as a portable drill, drill press, lathe or any suitable tool fitted with a chuck. The primary application of such sanding spindles is to sand edges of workpieces, especially concave regions where flat sanding means cannot be used. It also is useful for smoothing or lapping internal holes in a workpiece.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Sanding drums for the purposes described are known but they have certain shortcomings. The drum may be of two general types; it may be a simple cylindrical shape or it may be expandable in some manner. The expandable types utilize a resilient member which can be radially enlarged by squeezing it between axially movable washers. With either type of drum, the sanding media is in the form of a hollow cylindrical sleeve which slides over the drum. This sleeve has a limited surface area which is, obviously, about three times the diameter of the cylinder times the length. Sleeves are relatively expensive per square inch of surface area because of the inherent expense of making a cylinder rather than continuous sheets of the same abrasive material. If the sleeves are used with a non-expanding f SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The polishing spindle of this invention is generally cylindrical and provided with means to grip the end of a strip of polishing media. The term polishing spindle includes the applications for sanding, buffing, lapping, etc. Polishing media is a generic term used to describe sandpaper, emory cloth, bufiing cloth and compound, and any other flexible strip-like abrasive mate-' rial.

One end of the spindle is configured to fit in the jaws of a chuck on a rotary power tool. Rather than the cylindrical sleeves of the prior art, the spindle of this invention utilizes strips of polishing media which are gripped by and wrapped around the spindle in a direction opposite the direction of rotation so that rotation of the spindle against the work will wrap the strip tightly on the spindle.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a polishing spindle which overcomes the specific problems of prior art devices. It does not require expensive sleeve-type polishing media but uses strip which is secured in position.

Another object of one modification of this invention is to utilize radial clamping pressure of a tool chuck to secure the polishing media in the spindle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the spindle of this invention.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the spindle shown in FIG. 1 with the polishing media wrapped around it.

FIG. 3 is an end view of a modified spindle with the polishing media wrapped around it.

FIG. 4 is a side view, partly in section, showing a spindle held in a chuck with a collar at the chucked end and a recess in the opposite end of the spindle.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The preferred polishing spindle is shown in FIG. I. The spindle 10 consists of two identical halves 11a and 11b of semi-circular cross section. Each half will ordinarily have a. reduced end 12a or 12b on one end adapted to be held in a standard tool chuck. By way of non-limiting example, spindle 10 might be 1 inch in diameter and have a reduced end diameter of one-fourth inch so that it may be used with the popular size electric hand drill. In operation, one end of a strip of polishing media 13 is placed between the halves 11a and 11b and the spindle is secured in a tool chuck 20 as seen in- FIG. 4. The radial pressure of the chuck jaws presses the halves 11a and 11b together and thereby holds the polishing media 13 in place. The length of the strip of polishing media is not critical but additional advantages are realized when it is longer than the circumference of the spindle. As the media becomes worn or ineffective, the damaged portion can be removed thus exposing fresh, undamaged surface for continued work. This can be visualized in FIG. 2 where it will be seen that the outer convolution completely protects the inner ones.

A modified version of this spindle is shown in FIG. 3. The body of the spindle is a tube 14 having a longitudinal slot 16. It may be swaged on the end to provide a reduced end for chucking. A mandrel 17 which may be circular as shown or of any other cross section is carried within tube 14 and preferably held captive by tab 14a. The polishing media 13 is inserted into slot 16 and secured when set screw 15 which is threaded into the wall of tube 14, urges the mandrel 17 against the inside of the tube 14.

Another modification which can be included with the spindle of FIG. 1 is shown in FIG. 4. The ends of halves 11a and 11b are bored to provide a cylindrical cavity 18 when the halves are joined. A roll of polishing media 22, inserted into the one end of the spindle will be held in position by the clamping action of the chuck 20 on the opposite end of the spindle. A roll of polishing media mounted in this manner has been found effective in working on surface cavities of irregular shape.

Still another modification is shown in FIG. 4. A collar 21 may be provided to fit over the reduced ends 12a and 12b and held longitudinally in position by the chuck 20. The clearances shown in FIG. 4 are exaggerated for the sake of clarity. This collar will provide longitudinal support for the polishing media where polishing forces are such that the strip of polishing media 13 would tend to spiral up on the chuck. For clarity, FIG. 4 does not show a strip of polishing media wrapped around the spindle.

I claim:

1. A cylindrical polishing spindle for use with a rotary, power driven chuck; wherein said spindle is a hollow tube with a longitudinal slot to receive a strip of polishing media; a mandrel carried within said tube, and a set-screw threadedly engaged with said tube so that it can position the mandrel firmly against the inside of the tube to clamp said strip of polishing media.

2. A rotary polishing apparatus including a cylindrical spindle consisting of two similar halves, a machine chuck clamping said halves together and transmitting rotary drive force to the cylinder, and a strip of polishing media clamped between said halves and wrapped 4. The apparatus of claim 2 including a collar of around said Spindle m a dn'ectlon opposlte the dlrec greater diameter than said spindle positioned over retion of rotation.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 where the strip of polishing media is longer than the circumference of said spin- 5 said machine chuckd l duced ends of said spindle and held against the ends of 

1. A cylindrical polishing spindle for use with a rotary, power driven chuck; wherein said spindle is a hollow tube with a longitudinal slot to receive a strip of polishing media; a mandrel carried within said tube, and a set-screw threadedly engaged with said tube so that it can position the mandrel firmly against the inside of the tube to clamp said strip of polishing media.
 2. A rotary polishing apparatus including a cylindrical spindle consisting of two similar halves, a machine chuck clamping said halves together and transmitting rotary drive force to the cylinder, and a strip of polishing media clamped between said halves and wrapped around said spindle in a direction opposite the direction of rotation.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 where the strip of polishing media is longer than the circumference of said spindle.
 4. The apparatus of claim 2 including a collar of greater diameter than said spindle positioned over reduced ends of said spindle and held against the ends of said machine chuck. 